Hoyer Discusses the Sequester and Republican Partisanship on MSNBC

Hoyer Discusses the Sequester and Republican Partisanship on MSNBC

WASHINGTON, DC - House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) discussed the need to stop the sequester and Republican partisanship on MSNBC's "Martin Bashir" this afternoon. Below are excerpts and a link to the video.

“The sequestration is an irrational, stupid policy that's having an adverse effect on our economy and on our national security. I think the layoffs, the furloughs that you referred to, are not only bad for the individuals involved, but much more broadly than that, [are] bad from the standpoint of our national security. [Democrats] tried on a number of occasions, on four specific occasions, to offer amendments which would get to the same savings, the same debt reduction, over the next year, but do so in a way that would not require a sequester, would not require irrational cuts to high priority and low priority in the same percentage. Unfortunately, the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives would not allow us to offer those amendments, would not allow them to be considered by the representatives of the American people. As a result, we're confronted with, as I said, this irrational process which is bad for our economy and bad for our national security.”

“We've had nothing about job creation over the last five months that we've been in Congress. And nothing about how we're going to go from the sequester, which everybody, including every Republican leader, believes is an irrational process. But unfortunately, a large number of [the Republican] caucus want to slash government funding no matter what the impact of slashing that funding is."

“Frankly, it's time to put politics behind us, partisanship behind us, confrontation behind us, and come together as a Congress, Republicans and Democrats, and reach compromises that will move us forward. Nobody will think they're perfect, but that's our responsibility.”